DrContrarian

It really grates when people have to qualify what they say with 'to be honest...' I reckon you should just be honest, right? I wrote a review of a book (Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success) that I bought (on Amazon ) recently. It was written by Kevin Hogan et al - someone whom I follow closely on the net, and whom I admire for subject knowledge as well as marketing savvy. I gave it 2 stars. Seventeen other reviewers averaged 5 stars. Should I have been brutally honest? (See previous post.) Is that really what is wanted in 'comments' sections? Is that the right forum? If I can't write a better book, do I have the right to criticise? How many of the 5-star comments are seeded by friends and fans and how many are genuine? Having said all of that, I thought the book did offer a few nuggets that are worth the $20 -odd bucks spent on it. But then again, I think any book on the planet represents great value, because one sentence could change your life.

Mandossian: " The only marketing genius is the customer." Price: "Every cent spent on marketing activities is an admission of failure."

This is a first for me- I am just going to promote another website. The quotes below are from a manifesto called "The Hughtrain" - a play on the original Cluetrain. Quote 1: Why did I leave the big world of corporations and Amex cards... The big city is an anachronism. All those skyscrapers, architecturally impressive as they are, were built to house large, tightly controlled, centralized bureaucracies within a very small area of land, geographically near the other like-minded bureaucracies with whom they did business. You wanted to work for Corporation X? You had to buy a house within commuting distance to Corporation X ’ s Central HQ. Ninety percent of the people you needed to talk to on a daily basis were within an elevator ride of your desk. Amazing how dated something so recent can seem. Now e-mail and its spawn are the new elevators. Quote 2: Why did you start a Blog - one of those things that when you are in start-up mode, is important but not urgent. HOW TO HA...

Read an article the other day (somewhere) that the war for talent is hotting up (again?). It makes sense in Australia where unemployment is just on 4% - a 30-year low. Being a newly minted entrepreneur – in Aus at least – I wonder about that. How and where will I find good people? People who will care as much as I do about my customers? I care because I know very personally that they are the people who allow me to eat and look after my family. Can any employee care as much? As soon as you are an employee, the person who feeds you is the boss – one step removed from the customer, and employees will always act accordingly: please the boss before the customer – that is only human. Even when I consider myself as an (ex-) employee, I must be honest and say… ‘I guess not!’ As much as I considered myself to be a valuable employee (no comments required on this one, thanks) I still did not care as much as I care now. And it is only when you are the owner of your own business that you get tha...

Drove my son to the football training yesterday. As we passed a bus, he asked me whether they earned a lot of money. "About $20 per hour", I ventured. He was impressed. (He is 9.) I then proceeded to tell him that it wasn't that much - not with a mortgage and such. Then came the million dollar question: "How much did you make today?" The truthful answer was ... "nothing". He did not seem to really get that tomorrow or next week I might make$10k or $20k, which makes up for the all the 'nothing' days. "I am never going to go into business," he ventured. "I am going to be a sport star or an actor or a musician or something like that." I might not have made any money yesterday, or even the day before; but I got to drive my son to the football, AND sit and watch him play. Priceless - as they say in the ads. The joys of being an entrepreneur. (No footy pic on this computer...)

As an entrepreneur/ consultant/ author, you are always interested in finding a new angle to write about. As a free tool, I have created a marketing buzz-generator – for all to use… Pick-and-Mix one word from each of these tables, combine…. and off you go: Integrated Brand System Connected Market(ing) Solution Authentic Customer Theory Sustainable Consumer Framework Collaborative Value Platform Dynamic Communications Proposition Strategic Community Outcome(s) (Just don’t expect me to buy the book L )

Many people I know promise themselves that... 'one day I am going to start a business'... but then struggle to find the 'right' idea. Now I can't tell you exactly what the right idea for you is, but I can tell you where you can go and fish. I have identified 5 areas, and I am not considering any of the obvious miracle cures for diseases etc. 1. Look at a supply chain (preferably an industry that you know well) and identify areas of conflict/ friction in the supply chain. 2. Look at the people around you and identify what they are greedy and/or selfish about. (Even if it comes from Nigeria.) 3. Find a product or service that appeals to the vanity of human beings. 4. Anything that makes people safer in a new environment (internet/second life/school/ roads - whatever.) 5. Anything that makes someone think/ feel/ act younger than they really are (vanity combined with a fear of death is a particularly potent combination). I could go on, but you get the idea. The reall...